The Madness Of Recalls : What's Next for Councils & Residents

By Lloyd Takawira 

2020 in the history of local government  in Zimbabwe has become the most problematic as  challenges largely because of the toxic binary, bi-polor political climate pitting the two  MDC formations consuming each  reached a breaking point much to the detriment of service delivery. 

Residents The Biggest Losers 

It must be succinctly postulated , that whilst , the voice of reason , failed to linger in the minds of the two warring MDC formations to find each other , the burden was (is) transferred to  the biggest looser who is the resident. 

Despite many scholars , civic societies proposing  strategies or policies to be nitiated over the years, the (system)(government) has rigidity stood in the way to detract any  vision of an admirable local government system.

Dead reader , our local government has been in the doldrums because of varied challenges which includes lack of funding, too much central government intervention in local issues.

The toxic Political climate that has soiled our governance culture has been a breeding ground for  recentralisation by government.

Through forcing local government officers to report to the  Provincial Minister , the Minister of Local Government has always  been the major drawback to a successful  local government development.

The case of Harare , has all but confirmed that the government doesn't care about residents welfare .Hardly  a month after his election, Harare Mayor councillor Jacob Mafume was  recalled by a non existent bogus  party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a development that has since been interdicted by the high court.

The whole recall  charade boggles the mind on  how the state has sunk so low in institutionalizing a well oiled machinery to make sure that , in  urban areas were the alternative controls service delivery is crippled. 

The minister of local government July Moyo hurriedly  initiated the recall of Councilor Mafume using a bogus letter ostensibly to suffocate service delivery and ultimately the alternative gets blamed.

Despite , parliament having  already made a decision that the MDC Alliance is a coalition and has since  allowed the supreme court resurrected MDC-T to recall Members of Parliament, and councilors , the minister went on to initiate the recalls.

It must be observed that the ushering in of the new National Constitution (2013) , many felt a positive development , envisioned as a step in the right direction that could end government interference into the operations of the councils .

However, the government has systematically been wanting to dent progress in alternative controlled  hotspots (urban areas) , obviously a political score point to discredit  the alternative (opposition)

Many a time ,  students of local governance felt local government legislation has given too much power to the Minister of Local Government who in the past tended   to be abusive  as evidenced by unilateral appointments of Commissions and firings of legal institutions. 

Despite a red flag by civil societies such as CHRA ,  to the MDC T that the recalls have dented the operations of councils . The call fell on deaf ears .

With whispers doing the rounds that the government want to appoint  commissions whose notoriority is recorded in the history books for embezzlement of council funds ,one wonders how could the opposition give Zanu PF a clear penalty to score and reward the the boys(Cdes)

Dear reader , it's crystal clear that, the deterioration of a local government system cannot be separated from the mindless political infighting consuming the two opposition formations aided by the state which appears to have taken a stance to aid another factions .

It must also be argued that , while the state might want to exonorate itself from the recalls , it's visible hand is as clear as the back of a goat.

Spirited calls by organizations  for the supreme court resurrected MDC T  leadership to stop the recalls couldn't be heard .

Dear reader , as the country goes for the by-elections and future elections particularly at council level. There is need for residents to elect literate councillors who can form policies or interpret statistical information like financial data especially during budget debates.

Moreso to the voter , the clarion call is to punish those who have put the country in the election mode as well as millions of dollars for the By-elections at the expense of service delivery .

Lloyd Takawira is a freelance writer and can be contacted on +26377192311 / tllyoyd@gmail.com

Why I support the death sentence !!

"The person who does not deserve sympathy is the criminal who decided to commit the capital act (usually aggravated murder) in the first place" Keith Miller 2018.

By Llyoyd Takawira 

On 14 May 2017, Makatendeka Loveness Takawira(3) , went missing . What pains me most is that the same script to which , Tapiwa Makore (7) went through is the same script that Makatendeka Loveness Takawira went through. 

In the early hours of the fateful day mother , Loveness Mushayi , had just gone to the garden leaving the innocent soul in the hands of my younger brother Learnmore who is deaf . 

 Upon her return she couldn't find the little angel Makatendeka . The whole Chaminuka village searched only for her bruised body to be found dumped in a little pond 100metres away from our homestead .

 Her body was bruised , her eyes removed , her smaller

right finger removed , her lips meticulously removed leaving the teeth exposed , her right ear was also missing. 

 

Ritual killings are heinous . From that moment l became a strong proponent of ,"Capital Punishment" The pain of loosing a kid is so deep.

One needs not to be in the shoes of Tapiwa Makores parents to feel the deep heavy block that comes with loosing a kid , not because of a disease but because of a "dusvura" murderer.

From 2017 up to now , l became so bitter with murder cases , that l strongly support death penalty, or “capital punishment” if one prefers a friendlier term, as postulated by Keith Miller (2018) who argues that capital punishment is a strong deterent to ritual killings. 

 Everyone agrees that crime is bad and we need to stop it. This seems sensible and logical in every way, until we ask the question: do we need a death penalty to be ‘tough’ on crime? The answer for me is a big "YES".

The Case Of China ,Singapore etc While in Zimbabwe there is a spirited attempt to do away with Capital punishment ,the case of China , Japan , Singapore as well as Saudi Arabia etc where death penalty is still carried out by beheading, stoning, crucifixion, electrocution, shooting, or hanging statistically show ,low rate of intentional murder cases. 

 It is imperative to take a look at the advantages of the death penalty with an open mind in view of the pain being suffered by Tapiwa Makore's and my family . 

 Death Penalty Sends a Strong Warning It must be unequivocally postulated that , death penalty is a deterrent measure against violent crimes. Researches from criminologists are agreed that the presence of the death penalty is useful in mitigating heinous ritual killings.  

Relief For Affected Family.

The pain of loosing a family member to murder is so deep. Those who have gone through the process of loosing a family member knows what I'm talking about . l and my family members are still traumatized .

 Think of the Tapiwa's parents. My daughter Makatendeka Takawira and Tapiwa Makore and many others victims of these ritual killings demand justice for their killers . 

One needs to interrogate how many victims have been killed by Tapiwa Makore's murderer considering that they had an unclaimed human head . What it means is that , the notorious gang has been killing people around the country . This needs to be stopped by hanging the perpetrators . 

Ernest van den Haag, Professor of Jurisprudence at Fordham University argues that , Capital punishment is strong punishment as it sends a strong message to would be killers .He went on to say, “Whatever people fear most is likely to deter the most.” 

 The death penalty means that the affected family find some revenge hence hearing or knowing that , the person who took your relative also met the same fate does not re-victimize the affected family. 

 Death Penalty Eliminates the possibility of an escape and future victims. For example according to Keith Miller 2018 , Drug lord Joaquin Guzman, better known as “El Chapo,” had a long history of being captured and escaping from maximum security prisons tomenting his victims upon escaping prison.

 It is my hope and that victims of heinous murder get to see one day murderers guillotined as punishment for taking away precious life . 

 Llyoyd Takawira is a freelance writer . He can be contacted on +262771923115 . Email: tllyoyd@gmail.com

An Eventful Week for Zimbabwe

By Lloyd Takawira 

Filled  with glamorous glimpses of humor and wretched by the loss of two members of parliament , Hon Mirriam Mushayi (Kuwadzana) and Hon Patrick Chidakwa ( Marondera East) , the week toppingly earned a reflection. 

Despicable , of all was ,the degree  heist demand by the country's veterans of  liberation war .

Yes !!! ,  War veterans demanded  university degrees, tax rebates as gratuity for their war sacrifices

"... the government must award us degrees because we went to war and learnt principles of the revolution and we made it," 

Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) spokesperson, Douglas Mahiya said: 

State Party Conflation.

Zimbabwe has been suffering from a  twin paralysis of state - party conflation , largely blamed on the ruling ZANU PF party's dejavue policies .  

Vocal these days ,  ZANU PF politburo member and acting spokesperson  Patrick Chinamasa  said the Cabinet ministers  must answer to the ruling ZANU PF party . Not only that , the man who earned himself the nickname 'Mr Bin' threatened that Zanu PF  would fire ministers that do not file reports with the secretariat. 

 “They should serve Zanu PF interests not their own, but Zanu PF,” Chinamasa said 

Despondent from multiple punches by  keyboard warriors , Zanu PF announced that it  is going  establish cyber units to counter( varakashi)  social media activists to shove up its image as well as to defend the party.

Zanu PF Politburo member Munyaradzi Machacha said 

" We  should also have a cyber-unit which will be involved in defending the party’s programmes on social media platforms. Social media has become the new battlefield for control .”

The General Almost Awake 

Listening to Vice President Constantine Chiwenga address where he said , that  he intends  to ban foreign medical trips  for ‘everybody’ was a complete logical  fallacy in dreamland . 

“We will not export our patients. We will not make referrals (to foreign medical facilities) for our patients. It’s everybody,” Chiwenga told journalists .

Vice President Chiwenga , spend months seeking treatment overseas. His acknowledgement  that overseas treatments by the ruling elites' have been gobbling state coffers sounded like a fabricated lie by a man whose last trip to China was in July this year for a “routine medical review.”

A Whopping $18 Million for By-elections 

Worrysome to the ordinary overburdened struggling Zimbabwean was the announcement by the  Zimbabwe Electoral Commission  that , it intends to hold by-elections on  December 5 . The commission submitted that a whopping  US$18 million was to be gobbled by the by-elections .

Fresh Farm Invasion 

Amidst a thunderous and aggregious USD $3 billion that the government of Zimbabwe promised to pay to former white commercial farmers as compansation for developments they have made on their farms ,  comes another property rights violation . The question is at whose expense? Obviously at the expense of the ordinary Zimbabwean . 

 Although the  government has said it is investigating the invasion  of Protea Farm in Ruwa by a senior official in the agriculture ministry. Protea Farm is owned by Martin Grobler. The writing is on the wall  that property rights and the rule of law in my motherland is seclusive . 

The Sister Revolution Hullabaloo 

Pissed off by the African National Congress delegation stance , that indeed there is a crisis in Zimbabwe . The regime in Harare did what it knows best  , threw salivo to their counterparts arguing that Zimbabwe and South Africa are two independent countries with sovereign rights and some members of African National Congress (ANC) were offside . 

The Genuineness in ANC 

It should be underscored that the ANC especially Madam Lindiwe Sisulu is keen on resolving the Zimbabwean problem . There is no doubt that , our problems are spilling to our neighbors South Africa . However , the old ways of throwing tantrums in the way dialogue has been our political leaders biggest undoing . 

The Politics of Hardliners

The Politics of Hardliners .

There is no doubt that , hardliner and the politics of entitlements has killed any hope of resurrecting and awakening  Zimbabwe.

The attack on Lindiwe Sisulu and Tony Yengeni for being the voice of reason in the midst of a debilitating crisis manifesting itself in various forms should be condemned . It is the 'stockholders mentality' 'chinhu chedu' mentality that has bastardized our country to this level .

 Zimbabwe For Us All 

Under sortorial , it can be underscored that Zimbabwe's  biggest undoing  has been , the "ruling elites' . The jargonization of , "tisu tirikutonga" has been an obiter-dictum to the fortunes of raising Zimbabwe from the doldrums  . Those at the top are not ruling , but are governing . 

Zimbabwe requires a "governing  party" not a "ruling party"

Llyoyd Takawira is a Freelance Writer . He is also a Governance Expert . He can be contacted on +263771923115 , Email :tllyoyd@gmail.com